Connected vehicles present an opportunity for a driver or occupant to access and utilize remote functionality, such as email, text messaging, the Internet, etc., on a near-constant basis while a vehicle is traveling. Since this access can create a potential distraction to a driver, one course of action vehicle manufacturers take to minimize distraction is to disable a good deal of vehicular interactive functionality while a vehicle is in motion or traveling over a certain speed. This is a reasonable solution, but it can be frustrating to users when other occupants are present, who could control the functionality without incurring distraction to a driver.
Also, in many instances, drivers and other occupants possess wireless devices, such as cellular phones, which allow similar connectivity. This setup can help resolve any connectivity issues by providing some degree of connectivity and remote system access when multiple users are present. A problem can occur, however, when only a single occupant (the driver) is present. Since a manufacturer may have the vehicle configured to disable the vehicular connectivity or interaction functionality, the driver may be tempted to use a wireless device as a source of connectivity while driving.
Use of cellular devices to text, surf the Internet or otherwise engage in input/reading activity while driving can be a distracting undertaking. If a driver is focused on interaction with a cellular device, the driver is not focused on interaction with the driving environment. One option would be to block or disable all connectivity to devices while they are in a vehicle enclosure, but this would unduly limit access by people who are not driving. It is also possible to disable specified devices while the device is in a vehicle, but any given device may be possessed by a person who is a driver in one instance and a non-driver in another instance. In such a case, if the device was pre-specified for disablement (based on a device identifier, for example), the person may be dissatisfied when attempting to use the device as a passenger, because the device would still then be disabled, since the identifier would remain the same.